API Input

Input

BTN([B], [PL])

Get button B state for player PL (default 0)

B: 0..5: left right up down button_o button_x
PL: player index 0..7

Instead of using a number for B, it is also possible to use a button glyph. (In the coded editor, use Shift-L R U D O X)

If no parameters supplied, returns a bitfield of all 12 button states for player 0 & 1
P0: bits 0..5 P1: bits 8..13

Default keyboard mappings to player buttons:

player 0: [DPAD]: cursors, [O]: Z C N   [X]: X V M
player 1: [DPAD]: SFED,    [O]: LSHIFT  [X]: TAB W  Q A

Although PICO-8 accepts all button combinations, note that it is generally impossible to press both LEFT and RIGHT at the same time on a physical game controller. On some controllers, UP + LEFT/RIGHT is also awkward if [X] or [O] could be used instead of UP (e.g. to jump / accelerate).

BTNP(B, [PL])

BTNP is short for "Button Pressed"; Instead of being true when a button is held down, BTNP returns true when a button is down AND it was not down the last frame. It also repeats after 15 frames, returning true every 4 frames after that (at 30fps; double that at 60fps). This can be used for things like menu navigation or grid-wise player movement.

The state that BTNP reads is reset at the start of each call to _UPDATE or _UPDATE60, so it is preferable to use BTNP from inside one of those functions.

Custom delays (in frames at 30fps) can be set by poking the following memory addresses:

POKE(0X5F5C, DELAY) -- SET THE INITIAL DELAY BEFORE REPEATING. 255 MEANS NEVER REPEAT.
POKE(0X5F5D, DELAY) -- SET THE REPEATING DELAY.

In both cases, 0 can be used for the default behaviour (delays 15 and 4)